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larimar

Well I have had good experiences with both buying from breeders and with adopting. If there were no breeders, eventually there would be no dogs since shelter dogs are neutered (which I agree with). There are plenty of reputable breeders, good ways to spot one: they make the buyer sign a contract to neuter the puppy at 6 months and send proof, they require the buyer to return the dog to them if they can no longer keep it, they provide PRA, hip dysplasia and other breed specific health guarantees, they have the mother for you to meet and possibly the sire (or complete info on him and where you can go to see him), they provide paperwork for registering the puppy ONLY after proof of neutering is provided.

Similarly when adopting be careful and don't make a spur of the moment decision unless you are ready to live with the consequences. Don't let a shelter push a dog on you in a "bait and switch" maneuver (they are well meaning but it can leave you regretting the decision).Be sure you can have type (breed or breed predominant in a mix) of dog based on your home situation (cats, children, yard, HOA, landlord, insurance, etc). Personally, I think adopting from a rescue organization that uses fosters is the best bet because they will be very knowledgeable about the dog and oriented to finding him a forever home, and the dog will have been vetted, given some training and socialized. These rescuers and fosters are true angels. One way to have a dog if your life doesn't allow having one forever is to help by fostering.

Finally, I have had dogs all my life, all were great dogs, but two were total rock stars ... not just to me but to everyone they met. One was a purebred gotten from a breeder (a red Doberman) and one was a mix that I adopted from a rescue (chocolate Labrador/ Siberian Husky mix). Just make sure you treat getting a dig however you do it as a lifetime commitment. You wouldn't have or adopt a child and then dump it in a shelter because it became in convenient, you'd do whatever was necessary to keep your loved one.

Donna, You are so wrong about no reputable breeders. I have raised and shown beagles for over 35 years. Some of my girls has never been bred. We do testing on our "kids" for musladin-lueke syndrome, epilepsy, and chondroysplasia just to name a few. These test are not cheap but we do them to better our breed. I'm not the only one that does these testing. Yes we may be small in number but we put our babies first. Have a bless dayHelen

All our animals are rescue this really hurts and makes me angry when the decision is made the commitment should be real when we moved as a family our pets moved with us always . There has got to be a better solution , education and help with spay and neuter , please commitment as a guardian and spay/neuter . Just dont understand what the thoughts are when people are so casual about their pets . Sorry just do not understand .

My family and I picked a dog up from the shelter two years ago .She has turned out to be one of the best dogs I have ever had. she was fully house trained and the most loving dog. I would never buy a dog any where than a shelter ever again.

Wow, I can't believe people are STILL ignorant and buy their pets in PET STORE!! Buying a pet in a pet store is VERY BAD. You pay 3 times as much for the dog and being it is from a disgusting puppy mill, it most likely will have medical issues. Why would anyone buy a pet from a pet store? Gee Breeding is bad enough. You can find ANY pedigree dog on Petfinder.com or do a search online to the specific breed rescue in your area. PLEASE spay/neuter your dog or cat and ALWAYS ADOPT, never SHOP. We humans are their only hope that they are not carelessly murdered due to overpopulation.

the city shelters dont even try to make the dogs look adoptable. i found an all black mixed breed female with mats so bad they had to be sheared off. also spots of missing hair, she looked so ragged but her eyes were so soulful. with some vetting and care she turned out to be so beautiful. we were to foster her but fell in love with her and bam a third dog in our house. if these animal control centers would only bath and groom them some people would be likely to adopt them. she was estimated to be about 7 when we got her and she lived another 6 years of pure love to us.

Seems kind of stupid to just walk out and give up. If you really cared and wanted the dog you would do whatever it took. Do you have any idea how many awful things can happen to these animals? Show you care, not just say it.